Curley’s Wife Essay

Explore the ways Steinbeck presents one or more minor pillow slips in Of Mice and Men In this evidence I will be giving you an insight on how Steinbeck presents one minor character in the novel, Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck wrote the novel in 1937 the novel is baffle on a ranch in the Salinas Valleys in California during the Great Depression due to the Wall Street Crash in America. Americas stock market crashed and many people ended up unemployed which led to them leaving their families to look for jobs almost America including some of the characters in the novel.My turn out is focused on Curleys married woman and I will be discussing the ways Steinbeck presents her appearance, personality, dreams and the ranch workers views her. Steinbeck presents Curleys married woman as a flirtatious charwoman and attention seeking towards other men. This is shown on (page 53) She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feather s roughed lips, wide spaced eyes, with red fingernails. This quote foreshadows and signifies that Curleys wife will have sexual feelings to other men throughout the story because of the ways she appears and acts.Steinbeck too presents her wearing the colour red throughout the story. The colour red is a colour synchronised with danger this shows that people should stay fresh away from her because she may be dangerous. The colour red scum bag also be synchronised with love and romance this means that she could be flirtatious towards other men and she also can show love towards them. This is why she dresses this way it also suggests to the reader that Curleys wife acts attractively towards other men because she dresses up in a seductive way so she can snapshot the attention of other men on the ranch such as George and Lennie.She dresses that way because she is a tramp and they ilk to seduce other men towards them despite having a husband called Curley. This also shows that she is not really loved by Curley because she needs other men to catch her attention and body. She also could be found innocent wide spaced eyes this is something which she cannot help. The workers on the ranch view Curleys wife in a negative way. Evidence to support this is I seen em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her give tongue to George (to Lennie).This quote suggests that Curleys Wife is unsafe to be around because she is Jailbait meaning she is a young woman considered in sexual terms. This shows that Curleys wife could subvert Lennie in jail due to her being presented in that way. Due to Lennie calling her Jailbait this means that the reader is supposed see Curleys wife in a negative way. This would also make the reader predict that Curleys wife would be dangerous, trouble and bad as the story progresses. George also says worse than her this is suggesting that she is the chastise jailbait he has seen.The reader also learns that they have encounte red a problem like this before I seen em poison before this shows that they have come across another women like this before. We see this in the introductionIn Weed, Lennie pets a girls pretty dress and frightens her away which makes George and Lennie run out of township due to people chasing them. This quote may be prejudicing the reader because before the reader has actually learnt much more or less the character they are already presenting her in a negative way.This is because women were not seen as important in the 1930s and they had no rights therefore women were not well-respected so men could just talk closely women in that manner. Steinbeck presents Curleys wife in a provocative way so she can be noticed. This suggests that she uses provocative body language, she put her hands place her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward. This is her flimsy excuse to be with the men on the ranch. She both talks and acts playfully and flirtatiously in front of the ranch workers.She behaves in this manner because her sexuality is her only weapon to gain attention. Therefore this makes her body as an object because by using her body she can be noticed. Loneliness is a major theme in the novel. This suggests that she does this because she is lonely she is the loneliest character in the story. She is also the only woman character so she needs company by anyone. Her husband, Curley does not really love her and she does not love him. Several times throughout the story she does this she says shes looking for Curley but really that is just an excuse to be with other men.Steinbeck makes great use of isolation it is shown throughout the story. Curleys Wife is a character who is isolated. This shows that she is isolated because she cant really go anywhere nor do much on a ranch so she needs people to keep her busy so her time can pass by. The main theme of the novel is The American Dream. Like many characters in the book, Curleys wife al so has a dream. She dreams of being a film star. Steinbeck makes very good use of dreams throughout the novel. Steinbeck uses context The American Dream to present Curleys wifes dream.This can be shown in chapter five on (page 125) Could a been in the movies an had nice clothes- all them nice clothes like they wear. An I could a sat in big hotels and had pitchers took of me. This quote shows that The American Dream is important context here. The American Dream states that anyone can achieve anything they dream of in America. However, for Curleys wife, like lots of ordinary Americans, this does not turn out to be reality. She also repeats I coulda this suggests that it could have been but now is no longer a possibility.Instead being in Hollywood she is stuck with her unloving husband Curley who does not really care for her. This may be the reason she is always attention seeking around the ranch so she can get noticed because her dream was to be noticed and had pitchers took of her. S teinbeck presents her in regret who has failed in life. In addition she talks about how she wants people to take pictures of her so she can be famous. She also says this before Lennie kills her this suggests Steinbecks view of the pointlessness of dreams.